‘Great revolution in mobile penetration in SL’

Rasika SOMARATHNA

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has been helping developed and developing countries with a host of communications issues for 145 years. Its mission is to enable the growth and sustained development of telecommunications and information networks, and to facilitate universal access, so that people everywhere can participate in, and benefit from the emerging information society and global economy.

Here, Secretary-General Dr. Hamadoun Toure who was in Sri Lanka to participate in the 12th Global Symposium for Regulators, shared his thoughts on the importance of the event, Sri Lanka’s growth in the ICT sector, broadband, the increasing threat of cyber crime, innovation driven by necessity, and how the private and public sectors can work together to create the knowledge society of the future.

Q: How has the GSR 2012 has progressed so far and what are its aims?

A: This is the annual gathering of regulators and their industry dialogue. This is a very important event for the global telecommunications regulatory community - and an equally important event for the development of information and communication technologies worldwide. It is the decisions that are made by national regulators that shape the market for the growth of information and communications services.

Today Mobile penetration is quite widespread and now our focus is on how to turn this mobile miracle into a broadband miracle. GSR 2012 has produced very encouraging deliberations in this regards.

These are top level regulators from over 100 countries. They share good experiences and bad experiences. Our philosophy is very simple. We are in this information society. When we share information it multiplies. It gets divided. It is the beauty of this society and ITU's task is to supplement this.

We like to see everybody emerge as winners. We want to ensure that everybody shares the right information. In this field there is no concept as a big country or small country, all are equal. Because technology and the challenges that come with it are new to everyone. Even a small country can come up with new an innovative concept which others can adopt.

The Director of the Development sector of ITU in this conference has added a new dimension called GRID - the Global Regulators Industry Dialogue. The GRID includes the heads of private sector, CEOs, heads of regulators in the companies and government agencies. It is bringing like all players together and determine what can be done to make the game more fun.

We also have to ensure that the game is fare and winning for everyone. Regulators are the referees. However people come to watch the players, without the players there will be nothing. You don't need a too visible referee, because it would ruin the game. However, if there is no referee also the game will go out of control. So our idea is to strike the right balance.

For example ICT is the only industry which did not get affected by the economic crisis. This is because there is good regulation and not heavy handed regulation. The financial sector collapsed due to total lack of regulation. This is the difference. We try to exchange best practices and strike a balance on how to regulate.

Q: What are your views on the growth of the ICT sector in Sri Lanka?

A: In Sri Lanka great a revolution in mobile penetration has taken place. In 2006, the mobile penetration was 27 percent and by end of 2011 mobile penetration has increased to 87 percent. This is a tremendous growth. Also 3G technologies were introduced here ahead of all other countries in the Asian region. Today trials are going on for next generation of mobile communication. We believe that there is a very conducive environment for competition here. Competition, innovation and private sector are the key drivers of this industry today.

Sri Lanka's positive ICT developments is a clear indicator of the success in plans and strategies adopted by the government as part of its vision of making Sri Lanka one of Asia's digital star performers and an important new regional knowledge hub.

Strong competition among mobile service providers has already pushed the mobile broadband prices to a very low level. Also the government has been very pro-active in preparing a national broadband policy to support the delivery of high speed services, not just to well-off city dweller but also for marginalized groups.

We also can see how ICT has helped in the rebuilding of the Northern part here which was ravaged by the longest war in the world. Now they are reaping the peace benefits. All can see the difference which has happened in this country in just three years.

Q: How would you describe the ties between the ITU and Sri Lanka over the years?

A: The ITU has enjoyed fruitful cooperation with Sri Lanka. Together we have completed a number of projects successfully and many are now underway. In 2007, we assisted in launching a national emergency telecommunication plan and a workshop on communication during disasters. In 2008, we helped in the coordination for a satellite. In 2008, I visited here. At the time we really appreciated what President Mahinda Rajapaksa was doing here for the ICT sector. The ITU awarded him the Silver medal in recognition of his efforts.

The results of these efforts are there for everybody to see today. This is why that we see the competition going well here. Without political support telecommunications sector won't survive. This is very important in this sector. When I met the President this time I asked him to lend the same support for the growth of broadband penetration. It is still low here but the good news is it is higher than the international average. The LTE is being tested here which is next generation. We had also a special programme here to train Judges to help them understand better when confronting challenges related to the ICT. We also had a workshop on NGN here.

Another salient programme we have jointly collaborated is the school connectivity project which has been a big success. We had a preliminary project at 25 schools. It was so successful that the government has decided to implement it nationwide. In fact this we submitted six weeks ago at the sessions of the programme committee in New York. We believe that Sri Lanka could be seen as a case country for other countries to learn from.

Q: Can you elaborate more on this school connectivity programme?

A: This the first time we have done such a large preliminary project here. We chose 25 schools in the Southern province for the purpose whilst establishing an ICT laboratory in each of them. It has been so successful, the government has decided to take it countrywide. We look at countries which are serious and where funds will not be misused. We need real implementation. We are one organization which ensures that when we buy equipment for a project that they stay in the relevant country 100 percent. When a country is put on a special programme we also inform other UN organizations to implement their programmes in that country as well.

There is a long queue of countries vying to be included as beneficiaries, so we need to ensure that the monies will go in the right way. So far we have been very satisfied with Sri Lanka on the schools programme. In addition we also have been impressed by their growth and commitment to the further progress in the ICT sector. This is why we are holding this global gathering here.

Q: What are the challenges that you see when reassigning analog spectrum into digital and other emerging technologies and also your thoughts on cyber security?

A: The first challenge emerges when moving from one society to the other which here is from analog to digital. When a child is learning now he is open to Internet, twitter, face book, television etc at the same time. First this is a cultural change. For this change to happen you need to have leadership who dares to dream and share it.

We are in an industry which is profit making. Private sector can make profits anywhere. The smallest island in the world is profitable. Once you have the vision you have to put a legal and regulatory framework. That is where authorities like TRC will make a big difference. Regulators have to monitor three aspects, first prices going down, second service going up and third coverage expanding. If any of these are not going the right way it is time to bring in another player and enhance competition.

These are some of the few challenges. We all have to deal with new social networking which comes with enhanced ICT.

On Cyber security I think this is one of the greatest challenges that humanity is facing. Given the importance of our access to information and communication technology, the safety of our networks becomes a high priority. Cyber crime is on the rise and it's placing a huge burden on governments and the industry alike.

A cold war is starting now in cyber space which is a big challenge for us because cyber space has no borders, a criminal can act from anywhere in the globe. In 2007, in my first year as Secretary-General, I put in place what I call the Global Cyber security Agenda (GCA).

I had a team comprising the key cyber security experts from top companies around the world, both private and public sector, and they came out with a recommendations. One is a legal and regulatory framework, including the ethical side of cyber crime.

We need to have a common understanding of those issues because, unfortunately, due to cultural differences, sometimes crime is defined differently in different countries. Second is the technical arena. Of course there are always technical tools to fight criminals, but criminals are using technical innovation to do more sophisticated crimes and that's how cyber threat technology actually evolves; it's the fight between good and evil. Fortunately, good always wins in the end, but we have to work very hard. Unfortunately one of the prime targets of these efforts is children. We need a framework to protect children in this regard.

The final and scariest challenge is that we see potential for a cyber war. I hope I'm wrong, but a next world war may well start on the Net, in cyberspace. Cyber war is not occurring right now, but we have seen some malware being developed by some countries against others. Cyber threats can reach parts of a nation where physical threats cannot.

Attacks on critical infrastructure can stall a country's progress and quickly cause civil unrest. Cyberspace is driven by innovation and, unfortunately, the concept of a super power no longer exists in the way it did before; every individual on the planet can be a potential super power and can make an attack that can be lethal.

Cyber threats have to be taken very seriously and that's why we urgently need to put in place a platform for global cooperation and coordination. This is why I am talking about a cyber peace treaty with the involvement of all the countries in the world. In this treaty we should commit to grant access to citizens, commit to protect them and three commit to not to attack another country and four work in a framework of global cooperation.